Free Web NovelChapter 1295: Chapter 1284: Illegitimate Son
Both Prince Kang and Ye Jing knew very well in their hearts that this trip to the capital was not simply to comply with the Emperor’s request to celebrate the Longevity Festival; they were heading there for the sake of the throne.
Time can change many things. Over these twenty years, Noble Princess Consort Zhu and Prince Min had much of their power stripped away by the Emperor, Concubine Rou and Prince An also gradually lost favor, and the other Concubines and Princes, as if seeing new hope, swarmed to cluster around the Emperor.
The old Emperor was old now; he was not only suspicious by nature, but also liked to act on whim. Today he doted on this concubine, tomorrow he favored that little prince; the courtiers were tossed about by his shifting preferences until they were mentally and physically exhausted.
With Prince Kang summoned into the capital this time, some sharp-minded people had already sensed something off, but none of them believed the old Emperor would hand the throne to him. They figured he was merely using him to knock the other Princes down a peg, and by the way test who truly had the qualifications to be Crown Prince.
Yet there were still a few relatively old-fashioned ministers who felt that Prince Kang was the legitimate eldest son; even if he had now become a Vassal King in Nanyue, it was still only he who was most qualified to inherit the throne.
The Longevity Festival had yet to arrive, but everyone’s thoughts were already floating about; people were coming and going in the capital more frequently, and the threshold of the Ye Family was practically worn down. But they were all there to seek out Ye Sian; it had nothing much to do with Ye Sheng.
The irony was that Ye Sheng had grown old in years, but his mindset hadn’t; he actually grew jealous of his own grandson, and even secretly contacted those people behind Ye Sian’s back, without sparing a thought for what danger this could bring down on the Ye Family.
However, even if those with ulterior motives reached out to Ye Sheng, they still couldn’t get any benefit out of Ye Sian. Don’t think he was easy to bully just because he was young; whenever he grew impatient with dealing with them, he would simply go cry his grievances in front of the old Emperor.
The thing the old Emperor loathed most right now was exactly this kind of forming factions for private gain. He wasn’t even dead yet, and they were already looking for their next patron—what was that supposed to be? Planning a rebellion?
In a fit of rage, the old Emperor harshly punished two people. Having witnessed Ye Sian’s ruthlessness, no one came looking for Ye Sheng any more, which infuriated Ye Sheng so much he fell ill on the spot.
But he was no longer the man he had been in his youth. Because of this string of ridiculous maneuvers, there were hardly any family members left who had a good impression of him. The Li Family used the excuse of needing to take care of their grandson and little grandson, claiming they had no time to attend to him; Ye Siqi, although of low rank, also seldom came to see him, citing the pretext of being busy with official duties; as for the younger daughter-in-law, it was even more impossible for her to take the initiative to come and look after this father-in-law.
You might say there was still Aunt Lan and Ye Sian at home? Sorry, Ye Sian had already moved into Ye Qiu’s Marquis Mansion, and had taken Aunt Lan along with him. Although Ye Sheng had grounds to summon Aunt Lan back to serve him, did he dare?
After this incident, he came to a profound realization of just how cold and rational his eldest grandson Ye Sian truly was. The look in his grandson’s eyes that day, as he gazed at him deeply, kept replaying in Ye Sheng’s mind; he was afraid because he had seen a threat in his grandson’s eyes.
And so, Ye Sheng, who had once ruled the family with an iron word in his earlier years, found himself in his twilight days attended only by maidservants and servants, with not a single close kin by his side.
Ye Sheng was both angry and anxious. All that he had done before—who had it been for? Was it not for this family? The status the family enjoyed today, was it not thanks to his own clever decisions in the past? They were all ungrateful wretches.
At times like this, he missed his eldest son far away at the border more than ever; at least his eldest son would never treat him so cold-bloodedly.
But he forgot something: after Ye Qiu had made his name and achievements, how much time had he really spent by Ye Sheng’s side? And even during the time they were together, how much advantage had Ye Sheng truly managed to take of him?
His mentality was exactly the same as the current old Emperor’s—"the distant smells sweet, the near smells foul." As the years passed, the Prince Kang whom he had once despised and couldn’t stand to look at somehow became the one the old Emperor now thought of the most. Was that not a kind of irony?
"Put that tianhuang stone tiger figurine out. That little fellow quite liked it last time. I hadn’t had the heart to give it away, but thinking about it now, it’s just a figurine. If Ruirui likes it, then he can have it." With nothing particular to do today, the old Emperor was in quite the mood, personally coming to the side hall to oversee the decorating of the quarters that would soon house Xiao Rui.
Eunuch An also cheerfully placed it himself. "How does Your Majesty feel about putting it here?"
"This tiger is a bit small; it looks a little out of place here. Why not put that coral treasure bowl here instead, and hang the little tiger on the treasure bowl?"
"Wouldn’t that be a bit too precious?"
"Precious, what’s so precious about it? That child has grown up in a poor place like Nanyue since he was young; I fear he’s never even seen anything good. What does this amount to? He’s finally come to the capital; if I don’t show a bit more favor, he’ll probably be bullied."
What else could Eunuch An do but play along: "With Your Majesty’s protection, this time the young heir will certainly enjoy himself to the fullest."
"It’s rare for him to come; naturally I want him to be happy."
"With Your Majesty favoring him so, I’m afraid the other young Highnesses will be jealous." Eunuch An spoke in a carefully teasing tone, as if joking, so the old Emperor did not get angry.
He merely snorted softly. "Let them all scramble around currying favor; they can all just endure it. They ought to know who the true master of this World is, and just who it is they ought to be flattering."
Eunuch An sighed inwardly. He had thought that after Prince Kang and his son had been away for so long, they would be different in Your Majesty’s heart; now it seemed they still could not compare to those troublemaking Princes.
To be honest, he felt quite a bit of pity for the Empress and Prince Kang. Clearly the legitimate eldest son, yet he had to avoid the sharp edge of the succession struggle, and even be used by Your Majesty as a warning. It would not be surprising if, in the end, he really were targeted by those Princes whose eyes had been clouded.
But Eunuch An did not yet know that while Your Majesty wanted to use Prince Kang, was Prince Kang not also returning this time precisely with the intention of using the old Emperor’s feigned favor?
Truth and lies, lies and truth—whether it was true or false, whatever the Emperor’s real intention might be, as long as those willing to believe this "fact" believed it, as long as the final goal was achieved, anyone could put on a very good show.
And see, things hadn’t even started yet and Ye Sihui’s heart was already in turmoil. In the previous life, Prince An had long since ascended the throne, yet in this life not only had he not been appointed Crown Prince, he was increasingly feared by Your Majesty, to the point of faint signs of being disliked.
In contrast, Prince Kang had long since distanced himself from the center of the storm, yet he was being favored again. It was not impossible that he might really take an unconventional path and truly have a chance of being made Crown Prince.
And there was Prince Kang and Ye Jing’s child, Xiao Rui. Which other Imperial Grandson enjoyed such favor now? Her own son was also named Xiao Rui, pronounced the same, only written with a different character, yet Your Majesty remembered only the one Ye Jing had given birth to.
Right now Ye Sihui’s heart was in extreme imbalance. Ye Jing had clearly gone off to distant Nanyue, yet she still had a chance to return; moreover, her son enjoyed more favor from Your Majesty than her own.
Back before marriage, Ye Jing hadn’t even dared speak in front of her, yet now she seemed to be more glorious than herself—while she was someone who had even experienced rebirth!
